All applications for entry visas to Cameroon will be made exclusively online, from 30 April.

All applications for entry visas to Cameroon will be made exclusively online, from 30 April, as the country deepens digital transformation of government services.

This, according to the Minister of External Relations Lejeune Mbella Mbella, who unveiled the new electronic visa system (eVisa), accessible through www.evisacam.cm.

This follows a presidential decree of 2 March, which complements a 1997 law on the conditions of entry, stay and exit of foreigners in Cameroon.

According to Minister Mbella Mbella, applicants for the Cameroon visa will have to go through four steps, beginning with online pre-enrolment through the dedicated website. 

The applicant will then be prompted to proceed with the online payment of requisite fees, choosing from among a range of payment options including Mastercard, Visa, PayPal, MTN Mobile Money, Orange Money, Moov, Wave, Safaricom, Airtel, Vodacom and Africell.

In addition, the minister said applicants in places not covered by Cameroon’s diplomatic missions, or far from one, will be issued an online visa issuance authorisation and a QR code, which they can use to get a visa sticker affixed to their passport at the entry border post in the country. 

Meanwhile applicants residing in cities with a diplomatic mission will be invited for biometric enrolment, after which they will obtain the visa sticker.

“Either procedure shall be within 72 hours from the date of pre-enrolment. This deadline shall be reduced to 24 hours in case of express visa application,” Mbella Mbella said.

The eVisa system, the minister believes, will help turn Cameroon into a more attractive destination and align the central African nation’s consular system with international standards.

“The eVisa system shall, gradually but steadily, be installed at various land and maritime border posts,” Mbella Mbella noted.

Cameroon’s foreign affairs department is rolling out the eVisa system in partnership with Ivorian security and biometric solutions provider Impact Palmarès R&D SAS.

Under a 2022 agreement with the government of Cameroon, Impact Palmarès R&D SAS is charged with developing the online portal for application, processing and issuing of electronic visas.

The company is also tasked with installing biometric equipment in Cameroon’s diplomatic missions and consular posts for the printing of biometric visas on secured stickers, as well as the installation of visa authentication systems at entry points into Cameroon.

Impact Palmarès R&D SAS has, since 2020, tested the eVisa system it will be deploying, in the Embassy of Cameroon in Côte d’Ivoire.